


Run (Like the Wind)

by saunatonttu



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Some humour, hiding away one's past, some sads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 10:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6371587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saunatonttu/pseuds/saunatonttu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Koujaku was a man on a mission, and that mission was to keep his past hidden from Aoba beneath a thick fringe, a cheerful smile, and a bright kimono.</p><p>But he had an enemy.</p><p>The wind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run (Like the Wind)

**Author's Note:**

> I was crying about Koujaku, and this.. happened...

It was only when he was on a boat back to Midorijima that Koujaku realized one major problem he might have in facing Aoba and his old friends again.

The wind.

The very same wind that blew at his fringe at this moment, uncovering the shameful and unwanted tattoo coiling around his right eye.

 _The wind._ The arch nemesis to his plan to not let Aoba know just what had happened during his time at the mainland. The arch nemesis to Koujaku’s daily life. THE ARCH NEMESIS IN EVERY MEANING OF THE WORD.

Koujaku gaped at the horizon that opened before his eyes.

Goddammit, Mother Nature.

*

He couldn’t believe himself.

Even Beni couldn’t believe him.

”Koujaku, what the hell are you pacing around for?” Ah, he was ever so calming presence. Koujaku couldn’t help but bite at his lower lip to keep himself from retorting something regrettable. He did have an unfortunate temper.

”The wind.”

”The wind,” Beni repeated, and the bird Allmate managed to sound even flatter than usual.

Koujaku realized well enough his problem sounded absolutely ludicrous to his companion, who wasn’t completely aware of Koujaku’s bloody history and what the tattoos on his skin truly signified to him. Beni knew he was ashamed of them, of course, but he didn’t know the precise reason for that paralyzing emotion.

Koujaku clenched his jaw as the island came closer, teeth gnawing at the cigarette between his lips. ”I don’t want Aoba to see it, Beni. No matter the price. No matter what I have to do...”

He might just die if Aoba ever saw them. He would rather die, and that conviction was going to lead him to some desperate attempts at keeping his secret safe with him well into his grave.

”So, you’re just... gonna daintily skip away from the wind whenever it threatens to blow your cover? Man, you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought.”

As straightforward as ever, Koujaku mused as he finally breathed out the smoke.

”I’ll do whatever it takes,” he repeated.

*

As it turned out, ”whatever it takes” included running out on Aoba on their first meeting after years of not seeing even a hair of each other.

And God, had Koujaku missed Aoba’s hair. (Did that sound weird?)

It had happened not too far from the Main Street while Koujaku was trying to locate potential clientele after several days of shopping the necessities for his home, and those necessities included traditional wallpapers and lanterns, of course. His mother had always been most fond of them, and had told him several stories of fire spirits when they had lived in Midorijima.

Aoba had been on his way back to the junk shop he worked for, when they had almost literally bumped into each other, Koujaku nervously pressing a hand over his fringe when the strands had threatened to spill away from the tattoo they covered.

And then - then he realized that -

”Blue hair?”

”Eh - red kimono?”

Both of them turned towards the other, eyes wide and Koujaku’s hand still over his fringe-covered eye. Koujaku’s pathetic little heart skipped a beat. Or two. Or fifteen, because he wasn’t entirely ready for this confrontation, even though Aoba was basically the reason he still lived -

Tch, away, gloomy thoughts.

”It is you!” Aoba gasped, and his face split into a pleased smile. Koujaku blinked as he took in the young man before him. A few years younger than himself, for sure, but an adult regardless. Baby fat gone from his cheeks, and hair even longer than when he was a kid to be rescued from bullies.

”Aoba?” Koujaku smiled, the force of it making his muscles ache in an instant. ”It’s been a while!”

”It has,” Aoba agreed, his eyes wide as he took in Koujaku’s appearance. ”You grew a fringe, huh... Hey, you alright? Did I actually bump into you?”

”...No, no.” Koujaku immediately let his hand fall down from his fringe, even though the urge to rub at his eye beneath the hair was strong. ”I was protecting my hair. Upholding this hairstyle takes a lot of work, you know?”

Aoba’s mouth twitched, unimpressed with Koujaku’s statement. ”Yeah, especially when it looks windswept like that. Real convincing, Koujaku.”

And the wind started to pick up as Aoba mentioned it. Koujaku’s smile froze on his face, turning stiff and awkward as he felt himself be. Shit, from the wrong side too.

”As much as I’d like to stay and chat -” The face Aoba made at his words made Koujaku’s heart ache. ”- I really need to continue to survey my potential clientele. See you later, yeah?”

_It’s the wind. The fucking wind. I’d like to stay here and see if you’re still the same kid I remember. But there’s fucking wind; and I can’t trust my life to not fuck itself over and reveal to you the pain etched into my skin by that bastard._

Beni, on Koujaku’s shoulder, snorted unhelpfully. ”Let’s get going already.”

The Allmate still didn’t seem to take Koujaku’s anxieties seriously - or perhaps Beni simply played it that way, knowing Koujaku was bad at receiving genuine, heartfelt care.

Aoba’s eyes dimmed in obvious disappointment, but he didn’t stop Koujaku. Instead, he said, ”You should come visit me and Granny soon, okay? She’s missed you too.”

”Anything for Tae-san’s delicious food,”Koujaku quipped with a quick smile spreading over his lips as he waved a hand in goodbye, even though he was panicking inwardly about the increasing wind.

In the end, he all but ran away from the scene with a painfully pounding heart and Beni complaining about his cowardice.

”It’s not like he would judge you if he were the friend you think he is,” Beni said, ”no matter how shitty your past is or whatever it is that you keep blaming yourself over.”

Beni didn’t understand.

Koujaku didn’t want him to, either.

”Fear isn’t rational,” he said regardless. ”Fear of being hated and scorned even less so than most others.”

”...Idiot.”

”Haha, perhaps I am.”

*

Koujaku managed to open up his hairdressing business before he ran into Aoba the second time - or Aoba ran into him. as the case may be. Koujaku had been chatting up ladies, already feeling a much more in his element now that he was used to living in the only place he had ever been able to call home for real.

Even though it meant going ridiculously far to avoid any sort of touch with the wind.

Beni had suggested that he glue his fringe to his face. After the initial protest, Koujaku had laughed his ass off even though it was hardly a joking matter.

”Silly Koujaku-san,” the young woman that Koujaku had been chatting with said with laughter in her voice. ”Of course I’ll come cut my hair if that’s what you’d like.”

”Ah~ That’s greatly appreciated,” Koujaku smiled. ”If you have any special requests, do let me know. It would be my utmost pleasure to fulfill anything you ask of me.”

She flushed bright read, but gave a quick nod before reluctantly leaving him as she had grocery shopping to do. Koujaku watched her departing back with a small smile on his lips. There was no better feeling than making a woman smile.

”Wipe that dopey grin off your face, Koujaku.”

Koujaku nearly bit on his tongue, head turning slowly towards the source of the voice. Familiar, yet so strange at the same time, especially with the tint of irritation that colored it. ”Aoba...”

”You forgot where Granny and I live, or is there another reason for why you haven’t come visit us?” Aoba glanced at him, pale eyes bright and irritated. ”We didn’t talk much the last time, either, since you ran off all of a sudden.”

Oh, oh, right. Koujaku smiled almost sadly, irritated with himself for forgetting Aoba’s invitation. ”Sorry, sorry, I’ve been pretty busy setting up a clientele--”

”By flirting with everyone that you come across?” Aoba’s irritation became more obvious as his lips tightened and brows furrowed. Ah. One might almost mistake it for jealousy.

”Well-” Koujaku laughed into his hand, eyes closed in mirth. Aoba might have changed from what he remembered, but this feeling hadn’t. It was the same. ”If it helps the business, why not?”

”You--” Aoba’s mouth twitched, and the ends of his hair swayed a bit to the soft breeze that was starting to pick up. Koujaku stiffened. Not again? Can’t I just... reconnect with my childhood friend without the wind rushing in...?

Koujaku sighed and raised his forefinger to his lips, gently lapping his tongue over the pad of the digit.

Aoba gave him the most weirded out look Koujaku had ever seen on a person’s face. ”Huh, what are you doing?”

”Testing where the wind blows from,” Koujaku explained as he held up his finger. The shifting air felt chilly against the camp skin. ”Ah... crap.”

”I really don’t understand you, Koujaku...”

”The wind says it’s time to go,” Koujaku said apologetically. The forecast had promised some strong winds, hadn’t it?

”I’ll come over later today, okay? Beni and your Allmate-” A fluffy dog was peeking out from Aoba’s bag. ”-can get to know each other too, yeah? Tell Tae-san hi and to make that delicious rice dish of hers, okay? See you, Aoba.”

”H-hey, wait a minute...!”

Koujaku was Kouja-gone.

*

”--and this guy just runs away from me like he’s been possessed by something,” Aoba complained that night to his grandmother, and Koujaku managed a sheepish smile.

”I told you before, didn’t I?” Touching the ends of his fringe, Koujaku chuckled. ”This hair is a work of art, and-”

Tae and Aoba both snorted derisively, and Koujaku quieted down, a soft smile lingering on his lips.

”Spoken like a true hairdresser,” Aoba teased, his mouth forming a sarcastic grin. ”Though, I gotta say there’s something that’s been bothering me, Koujaku.”

”Asides my charming ways?” Koujaku teased, laughing again when Aoba scowled at him. Really, Aoba had changed a lot from his younger self, but... he was still Aoba.

And for him, Koujaku would pretend he hadn’t changed either.

”Shut up, hippo-”

”You’re adorable.”

Tae watched them with some irritation, but didn’t interrupt their playful banter, and perhaps there was even a small smile on her lips.

”I was just wondering about your scars,” Aoba said, glowering at Koujaku like the little brat he still was at heart. Koujaku felt his cheer cut off, like it had been unplugged. ”Your hands... and the one on your face... and you’ve got that ridiculous sword, too.”

”Oh, you didn’t know I practiced it?” Koujaku blinked, trying to recall if he had ever told Aoba that when they were young. ”Accidents... happen, you know, haha.”

It wasn’t easy to laugh it off, but Koujaku managed to do just that. It didn’t matter how the scars had come to be, he told himself.

Aoba frowned at him. ”You never told me that, yeah.”

”Sorry,” Koujaki said again, playing at the ends of his hair once more. ”I guess I’m a forgetful guy, in the end.”

It was better this way.

*

”Stop dodging the AC already!”

”I told you, I’m fine!”

”You’re sweating like a pig, Koujaku. I don’t even want to imagine how your face under all that hair must feel like.”

Long story short: summer had rolled by and Koujaku was spending a night at Aoba and Tae-san’s place -- not for the first time in that month either, mind you, but it certainly was the first time in such a choking heat.

”I don’t need it,” Koujaku groaned as he hopped over to the other side of Aoba’s room, and ignored the loud cackling from Beni, who lay on the bed beside Ren.

”Don’t be a brat.”

”That’s rich coming from you,” Koujaku retorted, a little irritated that Aoba didn’t understand his predicament. ”I said I was fine. I don’t need any refreshing breezes from a fan.”

”Are you a little kid or what?” Aoba frowned at him, looking about ready to leap on Koujaku and shove the fan on his face. ”Or, at least, take the kimono off.”

”I didn’t think you wanted me naked that badly,” Koujaku snorted, but for all his confidence, his face heated up at Aoba’s irritably spoken words.

 _”Hippo,_ ” Aoba muttered.

”Aoba,” Koujaku smirked, brows tight as he carefully eyed Aoba on the other side. The game was  _on._

_._

_._

_._

 

Needless to say, it was Tae that broke them off by giving both their heads a good slap and a lecture that consisted of sentences such as ”you two idiots are still such troublesome kids!” and ”would it kill you to be QUIET?”

Koujaku loved this family, he truly did, and so he managed to smile quietly to himself all the while listening Aoba’s quiet grumbling of ”wonder what made you so weak towards blowing air”.

Aoba would, hopefully, never learn his reasons.

  
*

”Koujaku, let’s go out to drink with Mizuki?”

”Sorry, can’t today...”

”Weather forecast promised windy, huh?”

”Yeah- wait, how did you-?”

”It’s obvious, you hippo. Why’re you so scared of wind, anyway? Did you get hit by a tornado while you lived in the mainland?”

”Ah... One could say so.”

”Vague jerk.”

”You like me well enough, Aoba.”

”Shame on me.”

”Haha, tell Mizuki I’m sorry, okay?”

”Alright. It’s your loss anyway.”

Koujaku sighed and flopped down on his bed, rubbing his hand over both his eyes. For once, there was nothing to conceal the right eye.

Just thinking about Aoba seeing the tattoos was enough to make his fingers itch, to make him want to--

Koujaku inhaled.

If keeping it a secret meant running away, he would do just that. Even if it meant faking a tragic phobia towards the gentlest touch of a breeze of wind...

Maybe he should have picked an easier way to masquerade his past away, but Koujaku was nothing if not a stubborn man willing to through this ridiculous charade. There was no turning back now.


End file.
